Feminist War Games? Mechanisms of War, Feminist Values, and Interventional Games

Cover
Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of contents
Contributors
Acknowledgements
Part I Introduction
	Feminist war games?: Mechanisms of war, feminist values, and interventional games
		Can there be a feminist war game?
		Notes
		References
Part II Play as inquiry
	1 Are there (can there be/should there be) feminist war games?
		War: what is it (good for)?
		La? guerre
		War never changes? The potential of feminist values
		A strange game. The only winning move is not to play
		War . fun
		Feminist war games
		Feminist anti-war games
		Let’s play?
		References
	2 Gendered authorship in war gaming: Whose fantasy is it anyway?
		Whose fantasy is it anyway?
		A feminist wargame?
		Simulating fantasy
		Playing feminist fantasies
		References
	3 An overview of the history and design of tabletop wargames in relation to gender: From tactics to strategy
		A brief history of wargames
		Scale of games
		Deliberate choice in game design
		Notes
		References
	4 Reframing the domestic experience of war in This War of Mine: Life on the battlefield
		[Image]ining war
		Reframing the image
		‘In war, not everyone is a soldier’
		From the ashes of war
		Notes
		References
Part III Feminism as war
	5 Gamified suburban violence and the feminist pleasure of destructive play: Rezoning warzones
		Child’s play
		Welcome to the ’burbs
			High school suburbia
			Small town cuteness
		Feminist snap
		Breaking (into) the school
		The end of the world
		Wrecking the mine
		Nuke Possum Springs
		Feminist violence, pleasure, and love
		Anger is world-making
		Notes
		References
	6 Because we are always warring: Feminism, games, and war
		‘Feminist war games?’
		We are always off to war …
		Core mechanics: the Trojan Horse
		Storyline: writing feminism beyond the feminine
		Win condition: the last of all wars
		Notes
		References
	7 Exploring agency and female player–character relationships in Life Is Strange: What choice do I have?
		Life Is Strange in feminist war
		A conversation on player–avatar relationships
		Attracted to ourselves: framing the reflection through recurrent attractors
		A personal minefield
		Playing Life Is Strange
		Making choices in Life Is Strange
		Conclusions on recurrent attractors and implications on play
		References
	8 ‘What is a feminist war game?’: A game jam reflection
		War games
		What is a feminist war?
		Our game’s theoretical underpinnings
		Invasion! The game
		Why a feminist game jam?
		Conclusion: our feminist war
		References
Part IV Challenging the industry
	9 Feminism and the forever wars: Prototyping games in the time of ‘America First’
		Turning the tables
		Failed states
		Hostile allies
		Base instincts
		The inhuman peace
		References
	10 Seven dimensions of a feminist war game: What we can learn from This War of Mine
		Introduction
		On wargames
		War from a different perspective: standpoint theory
		Framework for a feminist wargame
		Case study of a feminist wargame: This War of Mine (2014)
		Applying the dimensions
			Characterization and setting
			Dynamics and objectives
			Localized accessibility
			Reciprocity
			Modifiability
		Conclusions
		Acknowledgments
		Notes
		References
	11 Failed feminist interventions in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
		Introduction: make America Nazi-free again … through obscene acts of violence?
		Disability as feminist intervention, but then as obstacle
		Feminist cut-scenes as empowering, but also ‘gazy’
		Conclusion: the Bethesda wars or capitalism?
		Notes
		References
	12 Subversive game mechanics in the Fatal Frame and Portal franchises: Having your cake and eating it too
		Fatal Frame
		Portal
		Conclusions
		Notes
		References
	13 Toxic pacifism: The problems with and potential of non-violent playthroughs
		Notes
		References
Part V Afterword
Index